How to make an appeal to an employer 

There are many different situations where you may wish to appeal a decision that has been reached by your employer. These include if your employer has made a decision at a disciplinary hearing, following the outcome of a grievance or flexible working request. There are a number of reasons why you may wish to make an appeal and these could include where you consider the wrong decision has been made or the decision that has been made is too severe. 

Your first step before making an appeal is to consult your employee handbook to see what procedure is required to be followed. If your employer does not have a handbook you should consult any relevant guides that have been produced by ACAS and use these as a baseline for your appeal.  

What is an appeal? 

An appeal is a letter from you to your employer confirming why you disagree with the decision that they have reached. You are normally required to present your appeal in a certain time frame and this should be set out to you in the outcome letter relating to your employer’s original decision. If it is not, you may be able to find details of the same in your employer’s policy relating to the application that you have made. 

What do I need to include in my appeal? 

It is important that your appeal letter includes all information that you wish your employer to reconsider. We would suggest that you start your letter with an outline of the facts that have happened so far. This may mean repeating some information that has already been provided. 

You should then set out the points of your employer’s original decision that you do not agree with and explain why you do not agree. You should confirm if you have any evidence that could counter the decision made by your employer and finally you should include a section detailing what your desired outcome might be. 

An independent person should review the appeal (i.e. someone who has not so far been involved in the original matter),however, in smaller organisations this may not always be possible. If you receive confirmation that someone you consider should not be dealing with your appeal is dealing with it, you should initially discuss this with your employer to see whether there is ​​anyone else that could deal with your appeal. They will be looking into whether the procedure that was followed was fair and whether the outcome of the procedure can be considered fair. They will have the power to reverse or amend the decision previously made by your employer. 

What happens after the appeal? 

In most instances, your employer will invite you to a further meeting to discuss your appeal and an outcome will be provided following that appeal. They may be required to complete a new investigation into how the original decision was reached. This would include reviewing the previous investigation and speaking again to any witnesses, or anyone new named in your appeal. 

 A further meeting should take place to review your appeal and you will usually have the right to be accompanied to such a meeting by a colleague, or your union representative. 

Can I appeal the decision further? 

Unless your employer tells you otherwise, you do not have the right to appeal any decision further. f you are still unhappy with the decision that has been reached by your employer you may wish to consider whether you might have grounds for a claim against them.